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Released by: Redemption Films
Released on: September 20th, 2016.
Director: Sato Sade
Cast: Koshi Ann, Akane Miyako, Maruyama Shogo, Roman Soako
Year: 2014
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The Movie:
Mai-Chan's Daily Life was directed by Sato Sade and based on the manga by Uziga Waita. Described by distributor Redemption Films as a 'diabolical dark comedy that takes fetish violence to shocking new extremes,' the story introduces us to a pretty young woman named Miyako (Akane Miyako). In need of a job, she's intrigued by advertisement she comes across for a live-in maid position. Soon enough she's landed the gig and is working with a beautiful young woman named Mai-chan (Koshi Ann).
Miyako takes to the job well enough but quickly learns the hard way that she's been hired to do more than just clean up around the place. The man in charge, referred to as The Master (Maruyama Shogo), and his potentially female companion Kaede (Roman Soako) intend to use Miyako and Mai-chan alike in some twisted sex games! Things take an even stranger turn when it comes out that Mai-chan basically has a super power - she can injured over and over and over again but will always recover (it's like a mutant healing factor). This allows The Master and Kaede to indulge their most depraved, sadistic and violent desires and before you know it, Miyako finds herself along for the ride… whether she likes it or not.
Structured very much like a generic porno film in that the story really only exists to string together one set piece after the next, Mai-Chan's Daily Life mixes fetish-centric visuals with cheap gore effects with a reasonable amount of success. The fact that the pretty young women are paraded about in slinky maid's outfits adds to the kink factor to be sure, but there's more to it than that - early in the film the girls are forced to eat off the floor while wearing cat ears on their heads with their asses sticking up. It's clearly meant to be degradation, but they go along with it for whatever reason. Really it's the way that the movie makes sex and violence essentially the same thing here that gives the picture its shock value. We know early on that The Master is a creep - before Miyaki gets the job she's stripped and has her measurements taken - but it isn't until Mai-Chan's abilities are introduced into the couple's world that he goes full on super-perv. The fact that Mai-Chan is played as if she might have a learning disability or, at the very least, be or more than a little dim ups the creep factor here too. Mai-Chan just wants to make her boss happy, but what he puts her through is clearly insane.
But you never get the impression that you're supposed to take this seriously. Supposedly the manga goes to much further extremes than this feature does, but this is pretty strong stuff. Still, you can't help but laugh once Miyaki realizes what her true feelings for Mai-Chan are. Once that manifests, this gory, kinky movie does put the twisted humor front and center as the girl's themselves find themselves having a lot more power over the situation than either of them initially realized. As this happens, the movie ramps things up to pretty ridiculous extremes until it all comes to a somewhat predictable ending. The performances from all involved but particularly the two female leads suit the material well enough - there's a knowingness to their work that reassures us that they are both in on the joke.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Redemption Films brings Mai-Chan's Daily Life to Blu-ray in AVC encoded 1080p high definition on a 25GB disc framed in the film's proper aspect ratio of 1.78.1. Shot on what looks like consumer grade digital video, it looks as good as it probably can. The movie uses a lot of filters and post production tinkering for various reasons, and sometimes this saps out the detail in the picture. The movie was clearly mad fast and on a low budget - that shows in the cinematography and that works its way into the picture quality. It's really not a cop out to say check the screen caps below - that's a pretty accurate representation of the transfer quality here.
The Japanese language LPCM 2.0 Stereo track is generally alright but there are scenes that sound like the audio was captured in camera. Optional subtitles are provided in English only. Balance is generally fine and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion and the music sounds pretty good here.
The main extra on the disc is a half hour long featurette entitled Waita's Daily Life that is essentially a collection of footage shot on the set showing the cast and crew at work. We get a look at the director working away, as well as some amusing bits with the cast and crew clearly having a lot of fun here - even going so far as to make some jokes at the expense of what their respective characters are put through there. This isn't something you'll go back to but if you enjoyed the movie you'll probably appreciate this.
Aside from that we get a trailer for the feature, menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Mai-Chan's Daily Life isn't going to appeal to those who don't already have a soft spot for low budget Japanese gore pictures but if you fall into that niche and like a little kink and fetish sprinkled over your carnage, this just might tickle your fancy. Redemption's Blu-ray release looks and sounds as good as it likely can and contains a moderately interesting half hour featurette as its prime supplement. Not for all tastes but those who appreciate this type of stuff should enjoy.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
